At least 10 people killed in Russian and Ukrainian attacks

Russia and Ukraine have traded attacks that have killed at least 10 people, while the United States pushes for talks to end the war and Moscow’s top diplomat blames Europe for hindering negotiations.

Russian attacks killed four people in Ukraine, while Ukrainian strikes killed six in Russia and Russian-occupied territory, officials on both sides said on Saturday.

In Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia, two women died under the rubble of their home, following an overnight Russian barrage of drones and missiles, the regional military administration said.

A separate Russian attack killed two people in the city of Sumy, according to local officials.

“It is essential that our partners not forget: Russia is escalating every single day,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X on Saturday.

“If the Russians have chosen to make their strikes even more brutal, the world must choose stronger responses to keep the war from spreading further.”

Ukraine has pressed on with long-range drone strikes on Russian oil refineries and industrial sites.

In Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, a Ukrainian drone attack killed three people and wounded two, with Governor Veniamin Kondratyev writing on Telegram that it had also sparked fires at two industrial facilities.

Russian media later said an oil refinery was among the targets.

Moscow-installed regional head Yevgeny Balitsky said Ukrainian strikes overnight into Saturday killed three people in the Russian-occupied part of Zaporizhzhia region, according to Russian state media.

Russia’s Defence Ministry meanwhile said Russian forces struck a cargo ⁠vessel with ⁠military supplies near Ukraine’s Black ‌Sea port of Odesa on ⁠Saturday. A logistics hub ⁠was also hit ⁠in Odesa, ⁠it ⁠added.

On Friday, Russian strikes on Kyiv killed seven people, injured 58 and forced a halt to production at Ukraine’s largest steelmaker.

ArcelorMittal said on Friday that a number of strikes in recent days had killed five workers and badly damaged one of their sites. Ukraine’s steel industry previously made up 15 percent of the country’s exports.

Ukrainian forces, for their part, hit oil refineries in Russia’s Perm and Novoshakhtinsk on Friday, causing a temporary halt to operations.

‘Awaiting a proposal’

The deadly strikes came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that Washington had proposed a meeting of Russian, Ukrainian and US officials in the United Arab Emirates.

“We are awaiting a proposal from the United States regarding the date, and the United States has suggested the Emirates as a possible location,” he said in a WhatsApp briefing.

He also said Egypt, India, Turkiye and representatives from the Middle East were taking part in talks on unblocking shipping in the Black Sea, while other nations had put forward proposals.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that every settlement proposal remained on the table, though Moscow was still weighing what served its interests, according to Russian news agencies.

He said Moscow was prepared to return to talks with Kyiv following last week’s parliamentary elections, but accused Ukraine of trying to strike the capital and attacking polling stations.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday, and accused Europe of hindering talks with Ukraine.

“Europe is doing everything it can to thwart peace talks in which the [Donald] Trump administration is interested,” he said, referring to the US government.

Lavrov also said Moscow would achieve its military aims in Ukraine “no matter the circumstances”.

“The aims of the special military operation will be achieved, the threat to Russian security will be eliminated and peaceful life will come back,” he said.